The Rise
by Dakota Shadow
Summary: Not a GG book. Just needed a place to write my book and thought GG lovers would appreciate it most. About teenage rebellion in a compleatly dangerous setting. No romance for a while, but when there is, WOW.
1. Prologue

**The Rise**

In 2011, my country was taken over by Cran, a vicious and cruelly led lot that portrayed the double nine symbol like that of the triple six. This turned out badly for those born in 1997, because, due to an enormous and unsolved baby boom, they were portrayed as destined up-risers. Cranians figured that when they all turned 17 they would become a problem, and problems were more easily solved when nipped in the bud, right? So the Cranians decide they should start killing us off. Overnight, more than 2 million 14 year olds disappeared into thin air. Now, 15 months later and counting, the majority of us remain but the number decreases at least every week. After all, there's only one real forest, and there are only so many abandoned buildings and tunnels. The mountains are freezing and covered in predators, the desert is treacherously flat and, well, dry…But hey! A couple million people confined in a space as big as a country might not sound so bad, right? It might even be fun, like an extended camping trip, right? Like my rear end. There's no deer left, there aren't any heating or cooling systems outdoors, so Mother Nature has become our worst enemy, they get stuck wearing the same clothes they ran off with and most of them haven't showered since then too. They've forget about wishing for beds, all they want are some clean underwear. How would I know, you ask? I guess I forgot to mention. My name's Layna, and I'm 15 years old.


	2. Ch1 Silence

**I Know I didn't do this for the prologue, but whatever. Claimer: Ally Carter does not own these characters, this plot, or the words written here in any way. They're MINE. Not to be a jerk or anything, but I really want to get that point across. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 1: Silence**

"Shh!" I hushed. When I ran, I had dragged along my cousin Ari, knowing she wouldn't survive on her own. She still couldn't, even though this was routine. They did this every week at _least_, once almost every day for a month. Those idiot Cranians get about 100 of the Hunters into some random spot and they all fan out until they see a Hunter from a different group. Occasionally, they catch a few of us that didn't get a chance to hide. I'm lucky, I always find a spot. Ari was squeezing my arm again, and since I knew she would start wimpering again otherwise, I let her. For some reason she just couldn't adjust, she was still afraid of things I'd stopped fearing last year. These scans were honestly so common place that I never even rushed for a spot anymore; I just look around and shoved Ari into a dug out. Oh, those are little caves and holes, most of them man made, called dug outs because other 97's, had them 'dug out', hence the lame name. Those people were called 97Diggers, because, well it's all in the job. After they were finished digging, they just left a gaping, but throughly disgused, hiding place in the side of a hill. Some dug outs are really cool, I've stayed in ones with a carpet,one even had a tiny water fall running through it that doubled as a sink. How amazing right? Once I'd been in a dug out that had a ladder and went straight down. I absolutely hated it. I had felt trapped like a rat, unable to even claw myself away from anyone who would've wanted to point a gun at me. Whatever though, it was a good dug out, which are some-what hard to come by since all the room is taken up by the early, primitive forms of dug outs, which are usually just barely big enough to fit a well suplied backpack. My back hurts from contorting around the backpack that I've practically tied on to me. I wouldn't dare ever take it off though. Goodness knows that even if we are all just 97's out here, that it's still a world of teenagers, and Grandma Marie always says that as hard as you try to pick them out, the longer you keep them, the more rotten eggs you'll have mixed in with the good ones. A twig broke harshly outside the tunnel and I winced at the noise. I fought the instinct to go further into the tunnel, because if either Ari or I moved at all we'd be caught. See, the thing about Hunters is that, although we have superior sences and athletic abilities due to living like this, they have the better technology. Every single one has 'hearing aids' that could probably pick up the sound of an owl's wings flapping in the breeze, included comes night vision goggles, whisper quiet shoes (so that 97's couldn't hear _them_ unless they make a mistake, which they often do, thanks to their idiocy), and the package is compleated with a get up that looks like a wet suit but is actually a wear, tear and weather proof suit. Great for those of us who are stuck with the eyes and ears we were born with and clothes that literally couldn't get dirtier. I can't even remeber what color this t-shirt was when I first got it; I've tried to bleach it with the rare left behind bottles too many times! Ours isn't exactly the most convinient or easy option, but at least we still have our lives. I don't know what it is about things with brains, but our most forceful pull is tword life, something I could soon lose. I mean, if you're caught, they take you in for 'questioning', but if they know that they could lose you, you're shot, and I haven't heard rumors of a Hunter that's missed yet. Eventually, the sounds of breaking twigs and quiet breathing went away, and after what I figured was 15 minutes I gave Ari the signal to go further into the tunel. We would be in here for am hour or two since the Hunters like to double back. Seriously, they had a year and a few months before we were all 17. They have no chance. To get further in we had to crawl, but I'd been in worse. Suddenly, I heard a sound I am absolutely terrified of hearing from the other side of a tunnel. The sound of a third person.


	3. Ch2 Pren

Claimer: This story belongs to me. Ally Carter has had nothing to do with the following words. Enjoy.

**Chapter 2: Pren**

I turned around as quickly and quietly possible, wishing Ari were in front of me now so that I could face what was coming. My heart was pulsing so loudly that if the Hunter hadn't seen me yet, he'd definately heard me. It was a rule! A rule that there can only be one opening in a dug out! This is a literally written in stone rule! The majority of 97's watched this happen! Sometimes it was ignored though, and the poor souls that were caught unaware paid the price. "Hey! Wait! Please! Um... 3-2-6-2-9-7! 3-2-6-2-9-7!" The Code. It's what we live by, our law system, the piece of sanity for the insane. Inwardly I sighed; it was just another 97. I stopped and Ari grabbed my ankle from behind me. It might sound weird, but it was a reassuing gesture. I bent my head over my shoulder, trying to decide whether or not I should turn back, but I can be polite and contimplative at the same time, right? "3-2-6-2-9-7. Who are you?" I questioned, because personally I don't like recieving mini heart attacks from people I don't know. Mommy always said not to take candy from strangers, so I'm sure she wouldn't object. "I'm Pren. Who are you?" Definately a girl, nobody back home would end a guys name with an 'n'. "My name's Layna, my cousin Ari is with me." As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, there was a face pearing at me from around a corner. I still couldn't really see her, considering that I'd never even _heard _of a lighted dug out, but Pren seemed nice. "Come on. There's a place further in where you can stretch out." She led and we followed, wanting to know what stretching room ment to this girl. I mean, it's not like she's the first 97 I'd ever run into, I'd actually seen about 30 or 40, mostly because we tend to group up, but even though all of them had known and followed the rules, they'd all had different ideas on what I thought really needed standeredising. We came to a fairly average space that made me feel like the ants I used to trap in upside down bowls, but at 5'6" I could stand in the center if I bent my head over. In all honesty, it must have taken about 3 97Diggers about a month to do this and the tunel, which is pretty long. It's new, you can tell because of the small, scattered piles of dirt outside that the Hunters always seem to miss. I think this one might have been done by 8's though, which is what we call those of us who weren't born in 97, the number 8 being the sideways infinate sign and all. It's really sweat of them to scrafice themselves and live like us just to make sure we're safe. Trust me, _all_ 97's have been saved or helped by an 8Lifeboat at least once. And yes, there's pretty much a name for everything out here, most of which you can guess easily enough. Homes- those who pick an area and stay there, Hunters- they'll get anything you want, for a price, Sneeks- they'll steal anything you want from the Cranian government, and they're good at it, Searchers- the people who specialise in lost things, be they objects or people, Fighters- our most elite force of people that find and kill Hunters whenever it's possible. There are hundreds more, but the group Ari and I fit into best are called Skippers- people who wander around aimlessly, never in the same place twice or for too long. We're looking for nothing, finding nothing, wishing for it all to go back to normal. We'll be the ones who have the most conflicted feelings about going home when this is all over. We listen too hard, move too often and don't speak enough for society, but we're constantly thinking about it, that's what keeps us moving. "So...Where ya from?" Pren's voice broke my train of thought and I looked at her, confused by the simple question. It wasn't often you were asked about you're past out here, so many people were too focused on the future. "Dixon. It's right by Kimber. You?" She nodded, "Noh." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ari napping. "You're alone?" I asked. It was kinda rare, but not weird rare, just rare. "Yeah. I wasn't always, though. My Uncle Jat, he came with me, but he disappeared a while back." "Oh." It happened. Lots of stuff happens out here, but the sad thing is that you never really find out what it is. "Your uncle was a 97?" Pren blinked in surprise, "No. He was a 90, but after my parents died, I moved in with him. He wanted to come with me, so that he could protect me, but one day he went out hunting and never came back." I swear, there are more tragities out here than there were in the 16th century Glasno's plays, which is saying something. "That must be horrible for you." "Yeah. I think he's still out there though, looking for me. So what's your story?" I sighed deeply, glancing at Ari's sleeping form. "I left behind 2 parents, 3 sisters, 2 brothers and a various assortment of aunts, uncles, cousins and family friends. Ari was somehow the only other 97, and I couldn't just abbandon her. Anyway, now that we're out here it's nice to be reminded of home every once in a while." Pren looked at her dirt caked shoes and backpack, "Yeah, it is." I realised what I'd just said and immediately felt extreamly guilty. "You know... The more the merrier, right? Why don't you stick with us?" I gestured to where my cousin slept unaware. Pren snorted, "Aren't you the ones sticking with me?" I laughed softly, remembering suddenly that strange, giddy feeling you get when you decide that someone you barely know is a keeper, that you've found someone to have around for the rest of forever. "Honestly Layna, I would, but... I The Rise." My jaw dropped. "The Rise? As in _THE RISE_?" Her answer was both short and astounding. "Yeah." The Rise was the dug out of all dug outs, the impossibly unfindable, the 97 myth, the santuary of 8's, the largest group of people in hiding _ever_. It probably wasn't even real. I'd never even considered looking for it, the idea wasn't solid enough. Pren was though, and now that there was a real human being in front of me with an adventure in mind, the prospect was intoxicating. "When are we heading out?" Pren gleamed excitedly. "Sunrise in two days."


End file.
